Leah Lane News

Just last night, The American Theatre Wing celebrated 101 Years of supporting strong and fearless voices in the American Theatre with a tribute to Andrew Lloyd Webber's unrivaled body of work amassed over five decades. Performers included Tony Award winner and Emmy Award nominee Brandon Victor Dixon, Tony winner and Grammy Award nominee Heather Headley, Tony winner Katrina Lenk, Tony and Grammy nominee Norm Lewis, Webber muse Sierra Boggess, two-time Andrew Lloyd Webber Initiative recipient Sydney Lopes, and a mega-band that includes School of Rock alumni Evie Dolan, Ethan Khusidman, Raghav Mehrotra, and Brandon Niederauer.

BroadwayHD, the premier streaming service for live theater productions, exclusively streamed ANN, the critically acclaimed play written and performed by Emmy Award winning actress Holland Taylor and directed by Benjamin Endsley Klein, beginning yesterday, June 14. The special screening event was also held last night, and featured the show's star Holland Taylor. BroadwayWorld was in attendance, and you can check out photos below!

It was my honor to join the Chashama Board and host the Chashama Art Party this year. Chashama is known for their outrageous annual gala and art party, and this year was no disappointment. The Gala presented over 150 artists in an immersive labyrinth of installations and performances on June 7th. Highlights included, fire meets art showman, Flambeaux and his gorgeous wax covered troupe, melting and dripping burning candles onto each other and willing patrons, VR masked artists on Toto bidets with keyboards, performers moonlighting as sushi platters, stiletto heeled pole dancers, painters, acrobats, and Harlequin clowns with sparkle and confetti guns. It's a joyous celebration in Times Square; The Chashama Gala and Art Party is like New Year's Eve in June!

The final event in The Dare Tactics 4th Season, 'A Roller Rink Temptation' by Catherine Weingarten, rolls into WOW Cafe Theatre this weekend.

The final event in The Dare Tactics 4th Season, A Roller Rink Temptation, By Catherine Weingarten, will roll into WOW Cafe Theatre May 25-27, 2018. Helmed by Daniella Caggiano, Roller Rink is a coming of age dark comedy romp about six teen chicks at a lesbian roller rink struggling for love in a new and sexiii world. Rootabega (Maggie Metnick*) is super jewy and confused about her sexuality, but luckily one of the rink's employee's, Lemonade (Dani Martineck) is ready to show her around. Poppy (Leah Lane) is finally 16 and her and her BFF Clementine ( Hui-Shan Yong) are super excited to celebrate; too bad a fat, scary, girly repressed secret threatens their friendship. Salmonella (Claire Rose Autran) says she's 'straight' but a chance encounter with an awkward butch artist named Bluebell (Azalea Lewis) complicates everything.

The Drama League (Gabriel Stelian-Shanks, Executive Artistic Director) announced the 2018 Drama League Awards Winners on Friday afternoon for Outstanding Production of a Play, Outstanding Revival of a Play, Outstanding Production of a Musical, Outstanding Revival of a Musical, and the much-coveted Distinguished Performance Award.

The final event in The Dare Tactics 4th Season, A Roller Rink Temptation, By Catherine Weingarten, will roll into WOW Cafe Theatre May 25-27, 2018. Helmed by Daniella Caggiano, Roller Rink is a coming of age dark comedy romp about six teen chicks at a lesbian roller rink struggling for love in a new and sexiii world. Rootabega (Maggie Metnick*) is super jewy and confused about her sexuality, but luckily one of the rink's employee's, Lemonade (Dani Martineck) is ready to show her around. Poppy (Leah Lane) is finally 16 and her and her BFF Clementine ( Hui-Shan Yong) are super excited to celebrate; too bad a fat, scary, girly repressed secret threatens their friendship. Salmonella (Claire Rose Autran) says she's 'straight' but a chance encounter with an awkward butch artist named Bluebell (Azalea Lewis) complicates everything.

On Monday, May 14th, six time Tony Award winning producer, Stewart F. Lane was inducted in to the Manhattan Jewish Hall of Fame. The Manhattan Jewish Historical Initiative (MJHI) honors the important and varied contributions of distinguished individuals who have lived and thrived in Manhattan. Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer hosted the event, which was held in the historic venue, the Library of The General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York.

Talk a walk down the blue carpet with the cast of Escape to Margaritaville! Escape to Margaritaville opened last night, March 15, at the Marquis Theatre, and BroadwayWorld is taking you inside the big night. Check out photos of the cast of the blue carpet last night!

The 15th Anniversary Reunion Concert benefit celebration of the 2002 Tony Award-winning Broadway production of Thoroughly Modern Millie was presented last night at The Minskoff Theatre. The concert starred two-time Tony Award® winner Sutton Foster, Tony Award® winner Gavin Creel, Tony Award® winner Harriet Harris and other original cast members for a one-night-only benefit to raise funds for The Actors Fund, the human services organization that helps everyone in entertainment and performing arts.

Today, January 21, is Big Hug Day and Broadway casts, crews and fans alike united for a big hug in Times Square. The group hug took place at noon at the Red Steps / Father Duffy Statue in Times Square.

The Central Academy of Drama (CAD) attended a Broadway to China Symposium in New York City and Chicago. The goal of the trip was to promote organizational innovation through multilateral exchanges and cooperation with the world's leading drama educational and professional theater institutions. The Central Academy of Drama is known as one of the best drama and stage arts institutions in China, training students for placement in arts organizations across the globe. It is their belief that to train students for international placement, the faculty must be knowledgeable of state of the art practices across the map.

The American Theatre Wing just held its Centennial Gala last night, September 18th, celebrating the power of musical theater in American life over the past 100 years.

June 25th, 2017 marked New York City's 47th Annual Pride parade. Thousands of New Yorkers took to the streets to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community this year. A sea of rainbow, glitter, feathers, and every combination of the three filled the street. The historic march was filled with members of the LGBTQ+ community and allies alike. Stretching from 36th street and 5th avenue all the way down past the historic Stonewall Inn to Christopher street, people sang, danced, and watched as the parade passed by.

If you happened to be on the subway this month and smelled something particularly fishy (not the usually kind of subway fishy) you may have been in the same car as a mermaid. Saturday, June 17th, 2017 marked the 35th Annual Mermaid Parade on Coney Island. That's right. One day a year, all the mermaids of Coney Island are magically granted feet and march down Surf Ave and the Boardwalk until they grow their fins back and return to their watery homes… Okay maybe not quite mermaids, but close! Thousands of artists, and mermaid enthusiasts march in the parade every year. Over 3,000 Seashell clad individuals strolled, danced, and rolled down Surf Ave this year. It began pouring rain before the parade and several times during. Luckily, it is the Mermaid Parade, so a little water wasn't a problem for the marchers.

I find controversy delicious. As an avid theatre goer, there are very few times when I enter a theater with no preconceptions about what I'm about to see. Whether it's just the gossip I've heard around or the ads that I skip after 5 seconds on YouTube, I usually have some prior knowledge about the subject matter. This was especially true when I went into the Delacorte Theater to see the Public's production of Julius Caesar. I learned of Oscar Eustis' choice to make the play explicitly politically relevant when I heard about Delta and Bank of America pulling their sponsorships. As someone who sees herself as a socially active artist, I got excited.

"Curtain Up: Celebrating Forty Years of Theatre in New York and London" opened at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center October 31st. The idea for the exhibit was conceived when the Society of London Theatre wanted to create a display in conjunction with London's Victoria and Albert Museum to honor forty years of the Olivier Awards. Doug Reside, who is the curator for the Theatre Division at the library, explained that eventually "those conversations [between SOLT and V&A] started to morph about including us and including the Tony's." From there Reside worked with Anna Landreth Strong, V&A Curator of Modern and Contemporary Theatre and Performance, to create an exhibit that worked on both sides of the Atlantic. To qualify for the exhibit a show must have been nominated for both a Tony Award and an Olivier Award, won one of those nominations, and had a production within the last 40 years. 

Yesterday, May 19, Broadway's brightest gathered at the Marriott Marquis Times Square to celebrate this year's Drama League Awards nominees for Outstanding Play, Outstanding Revival of a Play, Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Revival of a Musical, and the much-coveted Distinguished Performance Award. BroadwayWorld caught the last of the red carpet arrivals and even got a sneak peek inside the ceremony in the Broadway Ballroom and the Marriott Marquis.

Monday night, a kickoff dinner was held honoring the 2017 Directors Project fellows. The dinner took place at the home of Broadway producers and BroadwayHD co-founders Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley. The guest of honor of the evening was Moritz von Stuelpnagel (director of Present Laughter, Hand To God), who is a Directors Project alumnus himself.

This Mother's Day, let Mom watch a Broadway show in her pajamas. BroadwayHD.com , is the on-line streaming service bringing Broadway and world class theater productions to your tvs and mobile devices for less than the cost of a pair of tickets. BroadwayHD is bringing down the barriers to this elite art form: barriers of geography, economics and physical limitations. The company's motto, 'If you can't get to Broadway, get to BroadwayHD'  describes the mission behind the creation of this entertainment platform. So if you can't get Mom to Times Square, let her watch a Broadway show from her home!